Method and apparatus for basing electrical devices



Feb. 15, 1944. Q 5 BOLD 2,342,041

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR BASING ELECTRICAL DEVICES Filed Eeb. 20, 1943 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Chafles F. De Bow, b9

Feb. 15, 1944. c. F. DE BOLD METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR BASING ELECTRICAL DEVICES Filed Feb. 20, 1943, :s Sheets-Sheet 2 lnVentor:

Chavtes F, DeBoLd His A'tfofney.

Feb. 15, 1944. Q E DE BOLD 2,342,041

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR BASING ELECTRICAL DEVICES Filed Feb. 20, 1945 s Sheets-Sheet 5 lnvewtoff Chartes F. DeBoLd,

ima- Fe. i944 FFICE METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR BASING ELECTRICAL DEVICES Charles F. De Bold, Hlllsdale, N. a, assignor to General Electric Company, a corporation of New York Application February 20, 1943, Serial No. 476,591

Claims.

The outer ends of the lead-in wires f3 extend through and are soldered to hollow pins or prongs ment electrode or other electrical energy translating device within the aforesaid envelope. the case of electric discharge lamps of the welllmown fluorescent type, the base is usually cemerited to the lamp envelope and is provided with hollow terminal pins or prongs to which the lamp leading-in wires are secured, as by soldering.

One object of my invention is to provide a method and apparatus for securing a base to the envelope of an'electrical device and for uniting the conductors of such device to the terminals 7 of the base.

Another object of my invention is to provide a method and apparatus for basing electrical devices wherein the lead-in conductors of the device are first soldered to the base terminals after which the basing cement is then heated to set the same so as to secure the base to the envelope of the device.

Further objects and advantages of my invention will appear from the following description of a species thereof and from the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic plan view of the machine comprising my invention; Fig. 2 is a vertical section on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is or turret ll.

l5 extending from the lamp base II. The particular machine illustrated is for basing electric discharge lamps of the well-known fluorescent type comprising an elongated glass tube or envelope It having a pin-type base II cemented to each end thereof.

Referring to the drawings, the machine there shown comprises a plurality (preferably forty) of heads it which are mounted at regularly spaced intervals about the periphery of a carrier The function of the heads I6 is to hold the unbased lamp l0 and the base It in roper relation while'the lead-in wires I3 are a fragmentary section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1

with the head shown in elevation;- Fig. 4 is a. fragmentary section on the line ti of Fig. 1 with the head shown in elevation; Fig.6 is a perspective view of one of the heads of the machine comprising my invention; and Fig. 6 is a sectional view of one end of an electrical discharge device which has been based on a machine comprising my invention.

The function of the machine according to the invention is to base electric lamps or similar devices it of the type comprising a glass bulb or envelope it (Fig. 6) having a base it cemented thereto by a ring of basing cement i2. velope it) is provided with one or more leadins-in wires as which are sealed into the envelope and are connected at their inner ends to a filament or electrode is within the envelope.

The ensoldered to the base pins l5 and while the cement l2 within the base I! is heated so that it hardens and secures the base to the envelope Ill.

The turret ll is secured to a hubbed flange 18 (Fig. 2) which is fastened to a vertical hollow sle'eve l9. The said sleeve is mounted on an upstanding central support column 20 which is secured to a bracket 2| fastened to a table or base 22. The weight of the turret H and the sleeve is is carried by a roller bearing 23 which rests on the bracket 2 I.

The turret H is rotated in a counterclockwise direction at a uniform rate of speed by a worm gear 2t fastened to the sleeve and driven by an electric motor (not shown) through suitable gear reduction mechanism (not shown). .The speed of the motor and the reduction ratio of the gear reduction mechanism are so selected as to rotate the turret at the desired speed.

In the regular order of movement of the turret ll, each head It is carried through a loading region (positions A to B, Fig. 1) where the lamp It! and base it are inserted-in the head by an operator who first threads the leading-in Wires iii of the lamp HI through the hollow pins l5 of the base it and then places the said baseon the end of the lamp. The base It comprises, in this instance, a metal shell25 (Fig. 6) fastened to discs 26 of insulating material which support the metal pins It, and is provided with a ring of cement it which engages both the metal shell 25 and the reduced end portion 2! of the lamp support bracket bolted or otherwise rigidly secured to the turret H and provided with vertically spaced bearings 3|, 32 extending beyond the outer periphery of the turret. Each head l6 comprises a vertically reciprocatable slide rod 33 slidably mounted in and extending through the bearings 3|, 32 and provided at its opposite ends with upper and lower bulb holders 34 and 35, respectively, for engaging and holding the lamp It) in a vertical position.

Each of the bulb holders 34, 35 comprises a pair of spring-pressed clamping jaws 35, 3!, i. e., a stationary jaw 35 and a movable jaw 31, which are mounted on a bracket 38 rigidly secured to the slide rod 33. The stationary jaw 35 is firmly secured to the bracket 38 as by a screw or bolt 39, while the movable jaw 31 is pivoted on a pin 45 extending from the said bracket. The two jaws 35, 31 are normally held in a closed or retracted position by a tension coil spring 4i fastened at its opposite ends to posts 42 extending from the jaws. The movable jaws 31 of the upper and lower bulb holders 34, 35 are rigidly tied or joined together by a tie rod 43 so as to move in unison when the lamp I is forced into and withdrawn from the mouth of the clamping jaws by the attendant at the beginning and end of the lamp basing operation.

Each head I5 is further provided with a base holder 44 disposed below the lower bulb holder 35 for holding the lamp base II in proper basing relation to the lamp l5 in the bulb holders 34, 35, with the terminal pins I5 of the base projecting an appreciable distance below the under side 45 of the base holder. -For this purpose, the base holder 44 is provided with a vertical bore or cavity 45, in line with the lamp l5 in the holders 34, 35, to snugly receive the cylindrical shell portion 25 of the lamp base H. The said lamp base is held in place within the cavity 45 by an annular lip 41 formed within the cavity at the lower end thereof. The said lip 41 is made of minimum vertical thickness so that the base pins l5 pro- Ject an appreciable distance below the under side 45 of the base holder when the lamp base is properly seated'in the well or cavity 45 so as to rest on the lip 41.

The base, holder 44 is rigidly secured to a vertical-support rod 45 fastened to the slide rod 33. To enable the basing of lamps with different bases having pins of diiferent lengths, the lamp holder 44 is made vertically adjustable relative to the turret l1 and the machine table 22. For this purpose, the support rod 48 is telescoped into the slide rod 33 and the two rods fastened together by a set screw 49 (Fig. 2).

The slide rod 33 together with the associated bulb holders :4, as and base holder 44, are held in a normally raised position by the action of a suitable stop means which may comprise a collar 5| fastened to the slide rod 33, at a point immediately below the lower slide rod bearing 32, as by the set screw 49. The said collar 5! strikes against the under side of the lower slide rod hearing 32, upon upward movement of the slide rod, to thereby limit such upward movement of the slide rod.

Downward movement of the slide rod 33 and its associated holders 34, 35 and 44, is imparted thereto by a laterally extending lever 52 ivoted at its inner end to the head support bracket 35, the lever being provided with a pivot pin 53 which extends into a bearing 55 in the head support bracket 35. The outer end of the lever 52 is forked to provide two horizontally-spaced arms 54 which straddle the slide rod 33, and are pivotally connected thereto by a pin 55, at a point intermediate the two slide rod bearings 3|, 32. To enable the forked outer end of the lever 52 to move in a true vertical line so as to follow the vertical reciprocating movement of the slide rod 33 in the bearings 3|, 32, the bearing 56, for the lever pivot pin 53 at the inner end of lever 52, is

, in the form of a horizontally-elongated slot (Fig.

2) so as to permit a limited amount of horizontal sliding movement of the lever pivot pin 53 in the said bearing 55.

On its upper side, at a point intermediate its ends, the actuating lever 52 is provided with a roller 51. for engagement with the under side or cam surfaces 58 of stationary cams 59 and 55 located at positions B and C respectively (Fig. 1) of the head I5 as it travels around the machine. The roller 51 is rotatably mounted on a shaft 5| extending radially or the turret l1 and supported in a pair of upstanding lugs 52 on the lever 52, the roller being mounted on the shaft 5| between the said lugs 52. The cams 59, 55 are fastened, as by bolts 53, to laterally-extending arms 54 bolted or otherwise rigidly secured to a flange or disc 55 which is keyed to the central support column 25 so as to be vertically adjustable thereon. The said disc 65 is carried by a nut 55 threaded onto the upper end of the support column 25, the nut 55 being mounted in a housing formed by the upper end of a hub' 61 on said disc and the inturned overhanging leg portions 58 of a pair of L-shaped lugs or straps 55 bolted to the said hub 51 at diametrically opposite points thereof. The

serve to hold the nut 55 against vertical movement relative to the disc 55 while permitting free rotation of the nut on the threaded portion 01' the support column 25.

A hand lever 15 (Fig. 1) secured to the nut enables the manual rotation of the nut by the.

o rator.' The upward or downward movement of the said nut, in response to the rotation thereof on the threaded portion of the support column 25, causes the disc 55 andits associated cams 55, 55 to likewise move upward or downward so as to adjust the vertical position of the said cams relative to the rollers 51 on the various head actuating levers 52. This adjustment arrangement for cams 59, 55 thus provides a ready control over the extent of downward movement of the head slide rod 33, the holders 34, -35 and 44, and the lamp i 5 and base I i held therein.

In accordance with the invention, the lamp leading-in wires l3 are first soldered to the base pins I 5 after which the basing cement I2 is heated to set the same so as to firmly secure the base H to the lamp envelope Hi. This order of basing operations is essential to the production of a clean and effective soldering of the lamp leadingin wires l3 to the base pins l5, for with the operations reversed, the hot basing cement flows down into the hollow base plus and forms a deposit thereon and on the leading-in wires which then interferes with the soldering of the said wires to the base pins and results in high shrinkage for the basing operation.

the holders 34, 35 and 44, is moved downwardlyso as to lower the base pins it into engagement with a rinsing roller ll (Figs. 1-2) which applies a coating of flux to the end portions of the said pin and the leading-in wires 93. The downward movement or the head slide assembly is effected by the engagement of the cam lid with the roller 5t on lever 52 as the head approaches position 18, the cam depressing the roller so as to cause the lever 52 to pivot on its pivot pin and move the slide rod 38 downwardly against the resistance of the spring lid. The fluxing roller it is rotatably mounted in a flux pct 12 located at position B and fastened to the machine table 22. The flux mt i2 is filled with a, suitable flux material or solution 73 within which the roller ii is partly submerged. The roller H is made of any suitable material, such as-sponge rubber, which is capable of carrying and transferring the flux material it! to the base pins it.

. Ii desired, the flux roller it may be omitted and the base pins i5 lowered directly into the bath of flux material it in the flux pot.

its the head it carrying the lamp it and base i leaves position B, the roller 51- on the head actuating lever 52 rides d the end of cam 59 whereupon the spring ht returns the slide rod 33, together with the associated holders dd,- 35 end to and the lamp to and base ii, to its normally raised position. The continued rotation of the turret i? then carries the head it to position C (Fig. 1) where the action of cam ed on the roller Ell of lever 52 again moves the head slide assembly and the lamp id and base ii downwardly, in the same manner as at position B, to thereby lower the base pins i into a bath of molten solder it (Figs. 1 and 3) so as to effect the soldering of the leading-4n wires it to the said base pins. The molten solder it is contained in a solder pot to located at position C endfastoned to the machine table 22. The solder is heated to a, molten condition by suitable means such as by gas flames, or by electrical means as shown, in which latter case the bath of solder it may itself form the secondary or a transformer the primary ll of which is connected to a suitable source of electrical current. As shown in Fig. 3, the transformer it is supported by the solder pot l5. s

Upon leaving position C, the head slide assembly and associated lamp it and base ii are again returned to their normally raised position by the disengagement or the roller bl with the cam such disengagement allowing the spring 5b to raise the slide rod 33. The continued rotation of the turret ll then carries the head it through the region from positions D to E (Fig. l) where the base housing portion it (Fig. 2-5) of the hose holder id is continuously heated by suitable gas i'ires l d directed thereagainst, so as to heat and bake or set the basin cement it within the lamp base ii. This setting of the base cement 52 then completes the attachment of the base to the lamp envelope it. The heat is supplied to the base cement i2 primarily by conduction from the base holder dd to the base shell and thence to the basing cement. The gas fires l9 emanate from. burners in the form of pipes or conduits 8t provided with burner openings at regularly spaced intervals therealone' and connected to a source of the supply. The pipes are curved to conform to the peth of trevel of the head it and are spaced apart radially of the turret ii in such a manner that the housing portion it of the base holder tit travels more or less between the said burner pipes til as the head it travels through the cement till setting region from positions D to E, as shown in Fig. 1.

To prevent the heat attending the cement setting operation from melting and destroying the soldered connection between the base pins It and the leading-in wires it, the said base pins are continuously cooled by suitable means, such as by air jets ti directed thereagainst from below during the course of travel of the head it from positions D to E. The air Jets ti emanate from a. pipe d2 provided with air jet openings at regularly spaced intervals therealong and connected to a source of compressed air.

From position E, the heads are finally carried by the turret ll through a cooling region (positions E to A, Fig. l) and back to the first or loading position A where the finished or based lamp is removed from the head It by the'operstor and another un'based lamp it and base ll mounted in position within the head.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. Apparatus for basing an electric device comprising a carrier provided with a, head for supporting an assembly comprising a glass envelope, 9. base having terminal pins projecting therefrom, and conductors extending from said envelope to the outer end portions of said terminal pins. said head being vertically movable on said carrier and provided with holder means for supporting said base in position with the pins thereof extending downwardly, means for advancing said carrier, e. container for molten soldeddisposed adjacent the path oi travel of said head, and means for moving said head downwardly to lower said terminal pins and conductors into the said molten solder.

2. Apparatus for basing an electric device comprising a. carrier provided with a head for supporting an assembly comprising a glass envelope, a base having terminal pins projecting therefrom, and conductors extending from said envelope to the outer end portions of said terminal pins, said head being vertically movable on said carrier and provided with holder means for supporting said base in position with the pins thereof extending downwardly, means for advancing said carrier, means adjacent the path of travel of said heads for applying flux to the contiguous portions of said terminal pins and conductors. 2. container for molten solder disposed adjacent the path of travel of said head, and means for moving said head downwardly to lower said terminal pins and con doctors into the said molten solder.

3. Apparatus for basing on electric device comprising a carrier provided with a head for supporting an assembly comprising a glass envelope, a base having terminal pins projecting therefrom and containing a. quantity oi basing cement, and conductors extending from said envelope to the outer end portions or said terminal pins, said head being vertically movable on said carrier and provided with. holder means for supporting said base in position with the pins thereof extending downwardly and the basins cement in engagement with said envelope, means for advancing said carrier, s

container for molten solder disposed adjacent the path of travel of said head, means for moving said head downwardly to lower said terminal pins and conductors into the said molten solder, and means for subsequently heating and setting said basing cement to thereby fasten the base to the envelope.

4. A paratus for basing an. electric device comprising a carrier provided with ahead for sup porting an assembly comprising or glass envelope. 2. base having terminal pins projecting therefrom and containing a quantity of basing cement, and conductors extending from said envelope to the outer end portions of said terminal pins, said head being vertically movable on said carrier and provided with holder means for supporting said base in position with the pins thereof extending downwardly and the basing cement in engagement with said envelope, means for advancing said carrier, 9. container for molten solder disposed adjacent the path of travel of said head, means for mov ing said head downwardly to lower said terminal pins and conductors into the said molten solder,

means for subsequently heating and setting said basing cement to thereby fasten the base to the envelope, and means for continuously cooling said pins during the heating of said basing cement to thereby prevent melting of the soldered connection between the said pins and conductors.

5. \Apparatus for basing electric devices comprising a carrier provided with a plurality of heads each for supporting an assembly comprising a glass envelope, a base having terminal pins projecting therefrom, and conductors extending from said envelope to the outer end portions of said terminal pins, each of said heads comprising a slide assembly vertically movable on said carrier and provided with holder means for supporting said base in position with the pins thereof extending downwardly, means for advancing said carrier, a container for molten solder disposed adjacent the path of travel of said heads, and means comprising a stationary cam successively co-opcrating with said slide assemblies for moving said slide assemblies downwardly to lower said terminal pins and conductors into the said molten solder.

6. Apparatus for basing on electric device comprising a carrier provided with a plurality of heads for supporting an assembly comprisinga glass envelope, a base having terminal pins projecting therefrom, and conductors extending from said envelope to the outer end portions of said terminal pins, a support bracket for each of said heads secured to said carrier, each of said heads comprising a slide assembly slidably mounted on said support bracket for vertical movement relative thereto, and a lever pivoted on said support bracket and pivotally connected to said slide assembly, said slide assembly being provided with holder means for supporting said base in position with the pins thereof extending downwardly. means for advancing said carrier, a container for molten solder disposed adjacent the path of travel of said heads, and means comprising a stationary cam successively cooperating with the said levers for moving said slide assemblies downwardly to lower said terminal pins and conductors into the said molten solder.

7; Apparatus for basing an electric device comprising a carrier provided with a plurality of heads for supporting an assembly comprising a glass envelope, 2. base having terminal pins proiecting therefrom, and conductors extending from said envelope to the outer end portions of said terminal plus, a support bracket for each at assaoai said heads secured to said carrier, each of said heads comprising a slide assembly slidably mounted on said support bracket for vertical movement relative thereto, and a lever pivotally connected at one end to the said support bracket and at its other end to the said slide assembly, said slide assembly being provided with holder means for supporting said base in position with the pins thereof extending downwardly, means for advancing said carrier, a container for molten solder disposed adjacent the path oi travel of said heads, and means comprising a stationary cam successively engaging said levers at a point intermediate the ends thereof for moving said slide assemblies downwardly to lower said terminal pins and conductors into the said molten solder.

8. The method of basing an electrical device comprising a glass envelope having conductors extending therefrom and a base provided with terminal pins and a quantity of basing cement, which method comprises mounting. the base in position on said envelope with the basing cement in engagement with said envelope and with the said conductors disposed contiguous to said terminal pins, soldering said conductors to said terminal pins, and subsequently heating and setting said basins cement.

9. The method of basing an electrical device comprising a glass envelope having conductors extending therefrom and a base provided with hollow open-ended terminal pins and a quantity of basing cement, which method comprises threading said conductors through the hollow terminal pins and mounting the base in position on said envelope with the basing cement in engagement with said envelope, solderlng said conductors to said terminal pins, and subsequently heating and setting the basing cement.

10. Apparatus for basing an electric device comprising a carrier provided with a head for supporting an assembly comprising a glass envelope, a base comprising a metal shell having terminal pins projecting therefrom and containing a quantity of basing cement, and conductors extending from said envelope to the outer end portions of said terminal pins, said head being vertically movable on said carrier and provided with holder means for supporting said base in position with the pins thereof extending downwardly and the basing cement in engagement with said envelope, said holder comprising a metal housing portion having a cavity therein shaped to closely enclose the shell portion of said base with the pins protruding downwardly beyond the said housing portion, means for advancing said carrier, a container for molten solder disposed adjacent the path of travel of said head, means for moving said head downwardly to lower said terminal pins and conductors into the said molten solder, and means for subsequently heating the said housing portion of the holder to therebyheat the enclosed base shell by conduction and set the cement therein.

CHARLES E. DE BOLD. 

